Search engine optimization gets a bad reputation for being technical, expensive, and slow. Some of that is true for national brands competing for broad keywords. But local SEO is different — and much more accessible.
When someone in your city searches "plumber near me" or "best chiropractor in Salt Lake City," Google is trying to show them the most relevant, most trusted local business. You don't need to outrank the whole internet — just your city.
Here are the five things that move the needle most for local businesses.
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the most important piece of local SEO real estate you have. It's what shows up in the map pack — those three businesses that appear above the regular search results.
Most business owners set it up and forget it. The ones who rank have profiles that are completely filled out:
- Correct business name, address, and phone number
- Accurate hours (including holidays)
- Primary and secondary categories that match what you actually do
- At least 10 high-quality photos of your work, space, and team
- A detailed business description with your city name and key services
- Google Posts — mini updates that show your business is active
Spend an afternoon on this. It's free and the impact is immediate.
Reviews are a ranking factor, but more importantly, they're a conversion factor. A business with 80 reviews at 4.8 stars will outperform one with 12 reviews at 5 stars almost every time — both in rankings and in click-through rate.
The most effective way to get reviews is dead simple: ask. After every job, send a text or email with a direct link to your Google review page. Most happy customers will leave a review if you make it easy.
Businesses that respond to reviews are 1.7x more trustworthy to customers than businesses that don't. — BrightLocal
And respond to every review — positive and negative. It shows you're attentive and care about customers, which matters to both Google and potential customers reading your profile.
NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone number. If your business name is listed as "Smith's Plumbing" on your website but "Smith Plumbing LLC" on Yelp and "Smith Plumbing" on Facebook, Google gets confused about which one to trust.
Audit every place your business is listed and make sure they all match exactly — including the format of your address and phone number. Key places to check:
- Google Business Profile
- Facebook Business Page
- Yelp
- Apple Maps
- Bing Places
- Your own website footer
Your website doesn't need to be fancy, but it does need to mention your city. Specifically:
- Your headline should mention what you do and where: "Salt Lake City's Trusted Plumber"
- Your page title and meta description should include your city
- If you serve multiple cities, create a simple page for each: "/plumbing-murray-ut", "/plumbing-sandy-ut"
- Embed your Google Map on your contact page
Google wants to show locally relevant results. Help it understand exactly where you operate.
A citation is any mention of your business on another website — usually in a directory. Google uses citations to verify your business is real and where it says it is.
You don't need hundreds. Start with the big ones:
- Yelp
- BBB (Better Business Bureau)
- Chamber of Commerce (local)
- Industry-specific directories (e.g., Angi for contractors, Healthgrades for medical)
- Apple Maps
- Bing Places
Each one is a small signal that your business is legitimate. Together they add up.
Want us to handle your local SEO?
Our SEO plans include monthly keyword research, GBP optimization, and citation building — starting at $50/month. We do the work, you get the calls.
Get started →The bottom line
Local SEO is not a one-time thing — it's an ongoing effort. But the first 80% of the work takes about 10 hours and costs nothing but time. If you do all five things above, you'll be ahead of the majority of local businesses in your market.
The businesses that show up at the top of local search aren't there because they have a bigger budget. They're there because they did the basics and kept up with them.